We have been really enjoying the Orion Early Reader series. These books are ideal for Mr Z age 5 years old, and Mr Monkey and the Birthday Party is no exception. This is a red level early reader, written by Linda Chapman and illustrated by Sam Hearn. The red level books are good for readers of around 5-6 years old who are really starting to gain confidence in reading, as they are more challenging than the blue level. This book has six chapters and 64 pages.
Mr Monkey and the Birthday Party is a story about the class stuffed toy, Mr Monkey. In the story, he is able to talk and help out with difficult situations when needed, due to some special magic. Mr Z has had stuffed toys come home from school for a weekend, as I’m sure many infant school children have so he was easily able to relate to the story.
Mr Monkey is sent home with Anya, the new girl in class two. Over the weekend, it’s going to be her classmate Rachel’s birthday party which will be a swimming party. Anya is so worried because the party will be in the big pool, not the baby pool – but she doesn’t know how to swim well! She worries about it all the way home, then Mr Monkey pops up and asks “Can I help?” – After getting over her surprise that the class monkey can talk, Anya works with Mr Monkey to find a great solution and is able to really enjoy the party. Mr Z found the story interesting and enjoyed the book. I think this story would appeal equally to boys or girls.
See more of our Orion Early Reader book reviews here:
Miranda the Explorer and Mondays at Monster School.
Algy’s Amazing Adventures in the Arctic and Poppy the Pirate Dog’s Shipmate
Mr Monkey and other Orion Early Readers are available from Amazon
Linking up to We Like to Read and Kids Book a Week
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
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What a lovely story and it is really great to see a story that children gaining reading confidence can relate to. Thanks so much for joining in with #kidsbookaweek
We love the early readers and this sounds like a really great book.
This looks fun – and also a lovely message about finding solutions to worries – I haven’t come across Linda Chapman before, but will look out for them next time I’m picking up books! #blogclub
I love the look of this, I think my 6 year old daughter would really enjoy it!! Thanks for linking up with #ReadWithMe I have tweeted and pinned this post 🙂 x
This sounds like a really lovely story. I like the idea of the class monkey helping the children it goes home with
That sounds like such a lovely story. I can’t wait for my boys to reach this stage 🙂
Sounds like a great book that’s really engaging
The early reader books are so great. Grace loves the Horrid Henry ones at the moment. This one sounds great 🙂 x
This sounds like a really good book something my niece would love #readwithme
sounds like a great book to encourage reading! Did the monkey come with it? x
no he came with Walker’s crisps a while back! I just brought him out to accompany the book!